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Mike Tyson against Himself
By
Leo Kim
December 3, 1999

Mike Tyson�s life is comparable to a roller coaster ride filled with human drama that intrigues even those who are not fans of Mike Tyson or the sport of boxing. With a history of street-gang violence, sexual scandal, juvenile violence, courtroom battles, marital strife, and imprisonment for rape, he is one of the most recognized athletes in history of sports. Mike Tyson was born into a life where people expected him to become nothing. The odds were against him but with the proper guidance Mike Tyson had matured into a successful individual. Success benefited against him however, he was not able to conform to the standards of being a professional sports role model. The bad boy image that Tyson portrayed in his boxing career follows him in and outside of the boxing ring. This image then turned into a reality as people slowly started to realize that the bad boy image was actually Mike Tyson�s true personality.

Mike Tyson against Himself

Mike Tyson�s life is comparable to a roller coaster ride filled with human drama that intrigues even those who are not fans of Mike Tyson or the sport of boxing. With a history of street-gang violence, sexual scandal, juvenile violence, courtroom battles, marital strife, and imprisonment for rape, he is one of the most recognized athletes in history of sports. Mike Tyson is unable to free himself from his past. The blind rage that fills Mike Tyson was developed during his rough upbringing in the urban streets of New York. He should be banned from the sport of boxing because of his violent outrage and his inability to follow the rules of life in and outside of the boxing ring. Researching his past and comparing those events to current ones show that there is a pattern to this man�s strange and bizarre behavior.

Lorna Tyson gave life to Michael Gerard Tyson on June 30, 1999. Michael was her second son. His father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, never got around to marrying Lorna. Mike Tyson�s last name came from his mother�s maiden name. When Mike reached the age of two, his family fell apart; Jimmy was hospitalized and no longer able to work due to a heart condition. Jimmy�s free spirit finally urged him to move on, he had left his family because he felt worthless. Lorna was left to raise her three children on her own. With no one to bring home a means of support she was forced to depend on Welfare and Public Assistance. It was the only means for the Tyson�s survival. The Tyson family was forced to leave Brooklyn they relocated in Brownsville, NY. Brownsville ranks as one of the most violent cities in the United States still to this day.

Mike was small for his age; he was seen as a �fairy boy�. He was an easy victim, for those that preyed on the small and innocent. He spoke softly and talked with a lisp. �He was often beat up by the neighborhood bullies, girls would also beat him up and take his jacket, money or whatever they could get from him� (Heller 7). Lorna could not shield her child from the streets. He was humiliated and taunted on a daily basis. If Mike were lucky enough not to get beaten up in the streets, his brother Rodney would fill in the bully�s position at home. The Tyson family lived in their tenement apartment with no heat or hot water. The family moved from street to street in the same section of Brownsville. Brownsville would continue on nurturing Mike Tyson. He was forced to play in empty tenement buildings, saw junkies dead from overdosing. He saw people get beaten with baseball bats and gunned down. The once innocent and gentle child had fell victim to the poverty stricken streets.

Mike Tyson was alone; he had no friends, so he turned to pigeons as his �babies�. He fed them and cared for them when they were sick. �The young boy watched them in the sky, marveling at their freedom, their ability to soar above the filth and danger and rubble. He loved those birds more then anything he would continue to raise and fly pigeons even after becoming heavyweight champion of the world� (Heller 8). One day a teenage bully approached him at his pigeon coup. The bully grabbed one of the birds and snapped the pigeon�s neck off its body. It was the end of the bird�s life but a beginning to Mike Tyson�s life. Without even thinking Mike beat the older bully senseless. It was the first time ever that Mike released his blind rage.

The word had spread like wild fire that Mike Tyson was no longer a �fairy boy�. This new ability gave Mike self-worth and pride. Mike Tyson soon ran with a gang called the Jolly Stompers. The streets were now his, Pitkin Avenue, Bristol Park, Rockaway Avenue, Lincoln Terrace Park, Herzl Street and ultimately the whole section of Brownsville. He now gained a natural high off of making others his victims.

At the young age of eleven he was known as one of the best pickpockets. When he attended Public School 396, he often received shoes from his teachers because he could not afford them. When they became too old and grew holes they were filled with cardboard. With his criminal mind, Mike gained the ability to afford his necessities through crime. When Mike Tyson committed crimes and ran from the law he said that he had �enjoyed the pounding in his heart and that it had given him a sexual charge of doing wrong� (Heller 10).

After a wide variety of crimes, from helping women by carrying their groceries and then stealing their purses, to beating drunks for their money and jewelry, to putting a pistol to a shopkeeper�s face, Mike had finally built up a rap sheet longer then a child�s Christmas wish list. He was detained at the Spofford Detention Center in the Bronx. One day at Spofford, Muhammad Ali visited the detention center. He was mobbed by all the screaming kids, he talked to them of doing right and Mike liked the way that people responded and looked up to him. This may have been a turning point in Mike�s life. After viewing the huge spectacle, Mike said to himself �That�s what I want to be, I want to be champ of the world some day� (Heller 11). A few months later after being released from Spofford Detention Center Mike Tyson was ultimately sent to the Tyron School for boys in the mountains nearly 200 miles away from his beloved streets of New York. There were two parts to Tyron. Tyron itself was a relatively relaxed area. Then there was Elmwood, where the troubled teens stayed. Before long Mike ended up in Elmwood.

Bobby Stewart was one of the counselors at Elmwood. He was a good fighter. Five years before becoming a counselor, Stewart had won the U.S. National Golden Gloves Light-Heavyweight Championship. Stewart later turned pro, and had a decent career of a dozen fights or so. �Mike thought that maybe a guy like Bobby Stewart held the key, could show him, teach him� (Heller 14). Mike wanted to meet Bobby Stewart; he constantly asked his counselors if he could meet Mr. Stewart. Mike had accidentally bumped into Stewart after beating up a kid in the detention center. Stewart, who was assigned to the �bad cottage,� gained notice of Mike. Mike constantly asked the guards if he could meet Bobby Stewart, but Stewart refused until Mike showed some good behavior. Stewart approached Mike one day after banging on Mike�s window and nearly scaring him to death by screaming, � I�m Stewart. What the fuck do you want?� Tyson responded, �I want to talk to you. I want to be a fighter.� �So do the rest of these assholes around here,� Stewart screamed back, �but they can�t even clean up their own act. You keep your act straight and maybe in a week or two we�ll see what happens� (Heller 14, 15). After that episode Mike Tyson was a model inmate. His behavior had changed dramatically; there were no more tantrums. To give Tyson a taste of his own medicine, Stewart hit Mike in the body and made him fall to the ground in front of all the boys in the detention center. Mike later recalled that Stewart had made his point and there would be no need to repeat it.

Mike Tyson was classified by the detention center as being �borderline retarded.� The psychiatrists had told Stewart that Mike was �slow mentally�. Stewart retaliated by asking the psychiatrists how they determined their findings with reading and writing tests when it was evident that Mike was unable to read and write. Stewart worked with Mike on his reading skills and writing skills. At the young age of thirteen he decided to introduce Mike to the legendary and controversial-boxing manager Cus D�Amato.

Mike was now thirteen and a half years old, 5�8� and possessed 210 pounds of solid muscle. Cus D�Amato believed that Mike had to be tested under fire. D�Amato believed this could be achieved if Tyson boxed Stewart. Stewart was being pressured because of Tyson�s power; his ribs could no longer take the beating. Stewart was forced to keep the younger fighter off him; he fired aggressive shots to Tyson�s face. Tyson�s face was smeared with blood, yet he still kept fighting even after Tyson�s corner man Teddy Atlas wiped the blood from Tyson�s face and said he had seen enough. Tyson refused replying �one more round� (Heller 18). D�Amato was impressed by the determination that Tyson possessed. After viewing the spectacle, he told Stewart that Tyson was going to be the heavyweight champion of the world. From that point on Tyson was not able to avoid his distractions, but he left his past of juvenile crime.

Tyson had a rough lifestyle; nothing was given to him, and what he wanted he had to earn. Tyson was released to the custody of Cus D�Amato. Cus lived in the country area of Catskill, New York. Tyson had to adjust from life in the city to now being in the country. Tyson also had to get used to the fact that he was the only black kid that lived on his block. Before Mike permanently made his stay in Catskill there had been several racial incidents between the black and white populations. Black students populated less then ten percent of the rural population (Heller 56). Mike was involved in several altercations at Catskill Jr. High School. In one episode, he threatened to assault a teacher. Mike had such strength at an early age that, if he had chosen to go after anyone, the teachers and administrators would have been powerless to stop him without placing themselves in serious risk of physical injury. Oddly enough though, few boys at the school harassed him; girls mainly harassed him. In one instance three black girls harassed him about his mother who they had never met. Mike responded by chasing after them, but they took refuge in the girl�s lavatory. This didn�t phase Tyson; he ran right after them to apprehend them but was stopped by the school principal. As the principal took Tyson outside to have a talk, one of the girls kicked Tyson as hard as she could. But Tyson continued to walk outside with the principal without resulting to physically harming the girls.

Mike continued with school and further developed his boxing skills but for some reason he was unable to leave his shadow of trouble behind. One day, a school bully named �God� because of his dominance over the other black kids started taunting Mike to a challenge. He pushed Mike to far; Mike beat the living daylights out of him. �On numerous occasions he was suspended for brief periods, and several times he was the subject of superintendent�s hearings� (Heller 72). Mike Tyson was ultimately removed from his schooling. Richard Stickles, the principal of Catskill High School had met with Cus and gave him an ultimatum threating that if he did not pull Mike from school that �he would take the matters into his own hands�.

Tyson could not even change his attitude in Cus�s home. Cus shared a Victorian mansion on a many acred estate with a 78-year old woman named Camille. Cus let Tyson off very easily when he was rude to him or Camille. Once, when Mike was leaving the house, Cus asked when he was going to return. Mike had replied, �when I want to.� Teddy Atlas, Cus�s trainer, often had to settle the matter so that the point was clear to Mike that his disrespectfulness was not going to be tolerated. Another incident involved Camille. Mike always left his sweaty workout clothes wherever he wanted. One day Camille confronted him about it and Mike exploded. He had told the elderly lady to �fuck off, you�re a piece of shit.� He screamed �you take a bath.� Teddy often had to resolve the domestic issues within the house. Teddy worked with Mike the whole time he resided at Cus�s residence. At this point in Tyson�s life he had won two National Jr. Championships. In the summer of 1982, several months after winning his second National Jr. Championship, Mike had suffered the loss of his mother due to cancer.

Mike was able to go on. He was adopted by Cus and Camille, and permanently resided now in Catskill. With all this change, he still couldn�t keep his act straight. Mike was often forceful with girls. At the age of fifteen it is quite natural to be attracted to the opposite sex but the way Tyson made lewd comments and grabbed girls in inappropriate ways lead one to believe that he had no respect for women. The tension all unfolded when Teddy found out that Mike had made lewd suggestions to a twelve-year-old girl. The previous year Teddy had been confronted with a complaint by a mother of a thirteen-year-old girl that Mike was having sex with her daughter. Teddy felt that since the sex was concentual he�d ignore the situation, but now it seemed as though the problem kept resurfacing. Teddy approached Mike because his behavior was not only destroying himself but others around him. Another incident occurred where Tyson physically and verbally abused someone (the gender or age was not supplied). Teddy confronted Mike and with a pistol pointed at Tyson�s head, threatened to �blow his brains out� if he didn�t change his behavior towards people. Tyson ran home to Cus and that led to the breakup of ties between Cus D�Amato, Mike Tyson and Teddy Atlas.

Cus had now developed the hunger of turning Mike Tyson in to the Heavy Weight Champion of the World. He trained Tyson harder, and he hired Kevin Rooney (who also was a professional fighter) to replace Teddy Atlas. With only the minor setback of adjusting Mike to the sudden change of trainers, this was the new evident beginning and evolution of Mike Tyson�s pro boxing career.

Tyson turned pro on March 6, 1985. Later that year Tyson would lose his legal guardian Cus D�Amato. Tyson described his reaction to Cus�s death as that of a child losing a parent. Cus never saw what he so longed to create, another heavyweight champion and success for his adopted son. Bill Cayton replaced Cus. Cayton a trusted companion of Cus now managed Tyson�s career. Less then two years later, Tyson had 27 consecutive wins under his belt. During those wins Mike began to create a badboy image by bringing back his bad ways.   A particular fight that increased Tyson�s bad boy image happened when he had fought Jesse Furguson. After the post-fight interviews Tyson said to the media that, �he had tried to punch Ferguson as hard as he could so that "the bone of his nose would go back into his brain� (Heller 121). On February 23, 1986, Tyson again made the headlines by making lewd comments to female customers in a Crossgates mall in Albany. Tyson created a disturbance when he allegedly propositioned a young white salesgirl in Filene�s department store in blunt language containing four-letter-words. She in return told Tyson what she thought of him; this sent him into a rage. He reportedly grabbed a rack of clothing and threw it toward her, scattering garments around the store, and exploding in a torrent of filthy gutter language directed at the girl and whatever customers happened to be in the vicinity. (Heller 122) Crossgates Mall personnel did not press charges, anxious to just let the incident die and avoid adverse publicity.

On November 26, 1986, in less than six minutes in the ring, Mike Tyson took away the World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight title from Trevor Berbick and was crowned at the young age of twenty the Heavy Weight Champion of the World. Mike Tyson made it his mission to unify the heavy weight division and give the world its first undisputed heavyweight champion since Muhammad Ali a decade before (Holyfield/Tyson Timeline 2,3). On March 7, 1987, Tyson fought James �Bonecrusher� Smith. After 12-rounds of grueling battle Mike Tyson was again victorious. Tyson accomplished the second leg of his mission; he took the World Boxing Association (WBA) title away from Smith. Less then five months later on August 1, 1987, Tyson had finally accomplished his mission of unifying the heavyweight division titles. A 12-round decision declared that Tyson had defeated Tony Tucker for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt. Tyson became the second man to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion.

In the year of 1988, Tyson expounded upon a new prize. Tyson now sought after the love of a young actress by the name of Robin Givens. Tyson set out to win Robin�s affection by lavishing gifts on her. For the first time in Tyson�s life, he was able to give expensive material tokens of love to someone, and he liked the feeling. Unfortunately, Tyson was unaware of Robin�s checkered past. When Robin pursued a career in acting she targeted upon successful men to achieve her success financially. One of her targets was the one and only Michael Jordan. She had set her sights upon him and the two finally met. �Jordan and Givens shared a hot and heavy relationship for a long period of time but Jordan bailed out of the relationship� (Heller 186). Another famous man that Givens pursued was, at the time, �the most eligible bachelor� Eddie Murphy. They shared a relationship that ended as quick as it had started. Robin was a woman driven by the desire to succeed, to get on at any cost, and to achieve success for both herself and her mother. Even though Robin all along was trying to take advantage of Tyson, she endured a wide variety of physical and mental punishments. One night in Tyson�s Manhattan apartment, an episode ensued where Robin screamed at the top of her lungs for some one to help her from being attacked by Tyson. This episode was just one of many to follow. No one knows the extent of Robins injuries but Tyson later confided in a friend that he had hit Robin so hard that she � hit every fucking wall in the apartment� (Heller 180). Robin Givens reported in detail of the altercations she had had with her husband. Her divorce papers read: �My husband has been violent and physically abusive and prone to unprovoked rages of violence and destruction� (Heller 317). She specifically mentioned the hotel incident in Moscow, saying Mike began to �lose control over his emotions � [and] started throwing champagne bottles around our room. At the peak of his manic state, Michael went down to the bar and started drinking vodka, glass after glass, like it was water. He then returned to our room, grabbed a handful of Lithium and locked himself in the bathroom, saying he was going to kill himself� (Heller 318). She then recounted another incident where Mike had chased Robin�s mother and an assistant in a hotel lobby. He then threatened a Soviet man, and hung from a balcony for ten minutes, threatening to kill himself. She went on to claim, �On the plane [returning from Moscow] Michael swore at me, called me a �whore� and a �slut,� and said he was going to kill me, that he had guns at home. He told me, �The world will forgive me because I have succeeded in making everyone think you are the bad one� (Heller 318). She also recounted the previous weekend�s outburst in New Jersey, saying Mike had awakened her when he was drunk by jumping on her bed and punching her in the body and head (Heller 318) �He started throwing dishes and liquor bottles at me and hit me with one dish that shattered all over me.� (Heller 318). Tennis star Lori McNeil describes an episode in which she had spent a night with Givens and Tyson in the Bahamas. The three were consuming alcohol at a local nightclub. Tyson began flirting with another woman and Givens confronted him. Minutes later Givens and McNeil went to their hotel room to get away from Tyson. Tyson kicked in the door, and then punched Robin in the mouth, splitting her lip. He then choked her, and when she ran to the bathroom to vomit, he kicked her in the rear end. One week after this episode, Tyson and Givens divorced in Los Angeles. Robin Givens filed for divorce in California because California had filed a 50-50 community property divorce law, where Givens stood to collect half of Tyson�s estimated $40 million in assets. Tyson retaliated by counter-suing Givens,

�Alleging that his wife of eight months had �tricked� him into marriage with a false claim of pregnancy and that he was �the hapless victim of intentional fraud.� His papers further charged that when she married him, Givens was �motivated solely by personal aggrandizement and a need to enhance her level of public recognition and personal wealth� Having been tricked into marriage by the defendant, the plaintiff found himself constantly manipulated by her and her family to the point of personal distraction regarding his own welfare and career� (Heller 321).

Such is an example of Tyson�s way of blaming his conduct on someone else and blaming anyone for any problems he perceives as having. Tyson had created many problems for himself and others. An incident that comes to mind through all this turmoil is when Tyson attempted suicide. Though this issue graced the papers of every national newspaper and news report, Tyson treated the suicide as a joke. Tyson said to the media that the collision wasn�t even �sufficient enough to force the release of the air bag of his BMW� (Heller 304). Another episode occurred in 1988. Tyson was accused by a 24-year-old woman of grabbing her arm, pulling her toward him and then grabbing her breasts and buttocks. A loud exchange followed, and an hour later, according to the police account of the woman�s complaint, Tyson once more approached her and threatened to punch her in the mouth. Charges were filed the following day. Several days after that complaint Sandra Moore of Brooklyn, NY, a professional woman was grabbed from behind under her dress. She filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against Tyson, accusing him of assault and battery by �violating and forcibly grabbing � and fondling and embracing her against her will� (Heller 388). On April 10, 1989, another incident involving Tyson was reported to police in Los Angeles. According to a parking lot attendant, after telling Tyson and his entourage that they could not park in a certain spot, Tyson had hit him three times (presumably not with force). Since the parking lot attendant had no witnesses charges were dropped on May 14, 1989.

During all of Tyson�s marital intrigue and turmoil, Tyson and Don King were inseparable. King continued to keep Tyson active; they distributed Thanksgiving turkeys to poor families in Tyson�s old neighborhood and in Harlem. Then did the same in Chicago and also donated money to the Special Olympics. It seemed as though Tyson was trying to renew his image. Don King had successfully pulled Tyson from Bill Cayton; Tyson was now fully managed by Don King Productions. This change was the start of Tyson�s downfall. Before Tyson fought against James �Buster� Douglas in Tokyo, Japan, he allowed his boxing skills to deteriorate. In the days and weeks before the fight, Tyson had been drinking heavily and carousing in Las Vegas. �He went to Japan overconfident and underprepared, and paid the price when the taller Douglas was able to use a jab-and-back-off strategy that frustrated the then-undefeated heavyweight champion�(Seattle Post). �During the fight the dazzling reflexes that Tyson possessed were dulled, and the shrewd defensive skills drilled into him by D�Amato were largely abandoned� (Joyce Carol Oates 4). Tyson lost by knockout in the 10th round in one of the most shocking outcomes in boxing history. The mediocre victories against mediocre opponents made it clear that Tyson was no longer a serious, nor even interesting, boxer. This same ideal would follow Tyson well into his comeback and current situation.

After the loss against Douglas Mike lived the life of an ex-champion. After two easy fights, which ended in the first round by knockout, Tyson faced Donovan �Razor� Ruddock, an IBF number one ranked contender. On March 18, 1991, Tyson knocked down Ruddock in the seventh round by knockout. Richard Steele had stopped the fight when Ruddock struck by a strong uppercut that sent him staggering to the ropes of the boxing ring. Controversy filled the stadium because many felt that Ruddock was able to continue. It was later determined that a rematch was to follow. On June 28, 1991, Tyson launched a monologue that went beyond the norm. �I�m gonna-kick-your-ass� fight hype. He promised Ruddock that when they fought, �I�m gonna make you my girlfriend.� He called Ruddock �a transvestite� and said, �I can�t wait for you to kiss me with those big lips of yours� (Heller 421). In the rematch, fought in Las Vegas with the temperature near 90 degrees ferenheit, Ruddock had his jaw broken early by a Tyson punch. Tyson used what were his normal dirty tactics. He was penalized twice by ref Mills Lane for low blows, and once for hitting after the bell. Tyson won a unanimous 12-round decision, raising his record to 41-1. Weeks after the fight headlines were filled with the news that Tyson was to face Evander Holyfield in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on November 8, 1991. The Tyson vs. Holyfield fight was suppose to go down in history as one of the richest fights in history. When the deal was made, Holyfield was guaranteed $30 million and Tyson $15 million. Tyson�s fight was ultimately canceled because of Desiree Washington�s accusation that Mike Tyson had raped her.

On January 27, 1992, eighteen-year old Desiree Washington, a beauty contestant in a Miss Black America Contest charged that Mike Tyson had raped her on July 19, 1991. These headlines flooded tabloids, newspapers and the media. Now Tyson was again in the limelight, and for the first time not for his boxing skills or accomplishments. When Tyson was interviewed by the media about the charge, he told members of WISH-TV that �I should have killed the bitch when I had the chance� (Shaw 27). This inflammatory statement was used as evidence against Tyson in the case. Tyson�s trial was a long hard road that became a case of he said, she said. There was no material evidence, and the defense for Tyson had �failed to act in his best interest, and become tangled in a web of bad decisions, miscalculations, and an ill-conceived trial strategy that would ultimately land him in prison� (Shaw 1). On February 10, 1992 12 Jurors decided that Mike Tyson was guilty of rape. Michael felt scrutinized by the whole world. When the judge (Patricia Gifford) asked Tyson if he had anything to say, �Tyson nodded his head got off his chair from behind the defense table and strode to the podium� (Shaw 198). Tyson first inexplicably apologized to the media, then apologized to the court and then apologized to the contestants of the Miss Black America Pageant- but did not apologize to Desiree Washington. Tyson concluded by saying, �My personal life has been incarcerated. I�ve been hurt. I was humiliated. I expect the worst. I�ve been crucified. I�ve been humiliated worldwide. I�ve been humiliated socially. I�m just happy for all my support. I�m prepared to deal with whatever you give me.� (Shaw 199). Judge Gifford sentenced Mike Tyson with 10-year prison sentence. She then added a maximum thirty thousand-dollar fine to go along with the prison time. Judge Gifford concluded by adding that she would suspend four of those years, and replace them with four years of probation. Indiana law mandates that, with good behavior, an inmate�s sentence could be cut in half.

Tyson was released on parole on March 26, 1995. His early release was due to his ability to demonstrate good behavior as a model inmate. The three years of prison that Tyson had served might have done more bad then good. The prison sentence made him more dangerous in ways beyond his previous flamboyance. The lost time denied him earning power, and maybe his place in boxing history. He had been stubbornly unrepentant in prison, so it didn�t seem likely he�d forgive the debt. All the powers of the media were trained upon him: What was he like? What would he do? How did he plan to make us pay? Tyson announced to the world that he was going to indeed make a comeback to ultimately regain the title of heavyweight champion of the world. However it seemed, as though Tyson were more focused on embracing the Muslim religion during his 3-year prison stint. In an interview before his release, Tyson said that he had been �wrong and disrespectful� to dehumanize his opponents, and he was sorry he had ever said he would make Tyrell Biggs cry like a girl or that he would make Razor Ruddock his girlfriend. �I will appreciated their forgiveness,� he said. Also, he wanted �to see the great libraries� once he got out (Hoffer 13).

Mike Tyson�s was scheduled to fight Peter McNeeley on August 19, 1995. Tyson defeated McNeeley with a disqualification. Mcneeley�s cornerman had entered the ring thus disqualifying his boxer. Only four months later Tyson defeated Buster Mathis, Jr. in the third round by knockout. This fight also helped Fox Television�s ratings. The December 16th fight earned a 16.1/28 nationally, Fox�s highest-rated night of programming ever, reaching an estimated 43 million viewers. �The preliminary bouts earned ratings of about 13 or 14, and the Tyson fight hit a 19.6 national rating� (Mediaweek 1).

Tyson was now in position for challenging Frank Bruno for the WBC heavyweight champion title. Fifty seconds, into the 3rd round, Bruno returned to England with a defeat from Tyson. Bruno received a $6 million dollar purse, by far the biggest of his career. Among Bruno�s top priorities: a visit to his plastic surgeon to repair a severe cut over his left eye. It was reported that Tyson walked away with a $30 million dollar paycheck. The fight against Bruno made Tyson �the baddest man on the planet.� The referee Mills Lane had stopped the fight with Bruno falling through the ropes of the boxing ring. The former Brooklyn native seemed to have straightened up his act, but only time would tell what Tyson�s true intentions were.

With all the success that followed Tyson, there also followed his shadow of bad luck. �Ladonna August accused Mike Tyson of fondling her and biting her cheek in a Chicago nightclub� (Jet 1). However, no charges were filed against Tyson because witnesses failed to corroborate with the story of Ladonna August. Police sources told the Chicago Tribune that they initially were skeptical when August changed her story during interviews about the alleged attack.

On September 6, 1996, Mike challenged Bruce Seldon for the WBA heavyweight championship belt. Tyson exploded on Seldon from the first bell with calculation and devastating accuracy. Seldon went down initially from an errant right elbow on a follow-through of a grazing blow to the top of his head with less than 90 seconds elapsed in the first round. Seldon arose at the count of eight and Tyson attacked. He caught him flush with a left hook that ended the contest a 1:49 in the first round. At the post-fight press conference, Tyson�s next bout was scheduled for November 19, 1996 at the MGM Grand against Evander Holyfield. Before leaving the dais and celebrating his victory, Tyson stated, �You (Holyfield) aren�t getting anything. I am going to have fun with this fight!� (Holyfield/Tyson TimeLine 6). Later that evening while Tyson was in celebration, he learned that two of his friends had been victims of a drive-by shooting outside of the MGM Grand. On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur and Marion �Suge� Knight were shot while stopped for a stoplight after the Mike Tyson/Bruce Seldon fight. �Marion �Suge� Knight was treated for a head wound but Tupac Shakur died of respiratory illness 7 days after the shooting� (Thug Immortal).

On November 9, 1996, Tyson faced Holyfield for what was to be another Tyson victory but later turned to be a shocking revelation. Evander Holyfield sent shock waves throughout the world when he courageously scored a technical knockout against Mike Tyson in the 11th round. Holyfield was the newly crowned WBA heavyweight champion.

Mike Tyson was scheduled to rematch Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997. Everyone anticipated this fight. It was titled as being one of the most memorable moments in boxing, and indeed it was. On the date of the bout with Holyfield, Tyson committed a major foul by biting a one-inch piece of Holyfield�s ear and spitting it onto the floor of the boxing ring. Tyson was deducted two-points and the fight resumed. In the third round Tyson again tried to bite Holyfield�s other ear. Tyson was disqualified as a result of the second biting. After the fight Tyson said that the referee Mills Lane failed to protect him from the headbutts that ultimately lead to the cut above the eye of Tyson. When asked by the media if he would do it again, Tyson said that he would indeed �do it again under those circumstances� (Yahoo! News 1). Tyson sought after people to feel sorry for him by saying, �Nobody ever has any sympathy or pity for me. In retaliation, I�ll fight back because nobody is fighting for me. I have to defend myself. It is just human nature to defend yourself. I just never sold out� (Yahoo! News 1). Tyson was later stripped of his boxing license, and fined $3 million dollars. After the initial suspension of his boxing license in Nevada, Tyson directed to the New Jersey State Athletic Commission in the hopes of licensure. Tyson erupted in obscenities at the hearing during the questioning. He was later given a chance to regain his license upon Nevada State�s Athletic Commission�s terms urging Tyson to undergo psychiatric evaluations by a leading team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and neurologists at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Tyson�s wife Monica also a psychologist tried to block the release of the records from the public eye. Tyson agreed to undergo the psychiatrist exam and received his reinstatement for a boxing license in the state of Nevada. Tyson�s medical evaluation records were ultimately released to the public�s eye on October 12, 1998.

Tyson made his return to boxing by challenging Francois Botha on January 16, 1999. A day before the fight though Tyson made some remarks to the media of what his strategy was in defeating Francois Botha. The 32-year-old Tyson had stunned boxing journalists at an outrageous Press conference by showing he was back to his bad old ways (Grimsby). During a press conference Tyson began raving and ranting that he was going to �kill his opponent� and that he expected him to �go down cold� and expected his opponent to �die� (Red Williams 1). These remarks threw a huge new cloud over his future in boxing. During the Tyson vs. Botha fight, Tyson enveloped Botha in a clinch and clamped hard on the South African�s left arm; Botha could be seen reacting in pain.

A melee ensued with the MGM Grand security force jumping into the ring along with others. Tyson ultimately beat Botha by knocking him out in the fifth round. In the interviews that followed the fight Botha said that �He was trying to break my arm.� When they question Tyson of whether Botha�s allegations were true or not Tyson replied that Botha was correct.

On August 31, 1998, Mike Tyson had been charged with assaulting two individuals, without physical provocation. Tyson was sentenced to one year in a Montgomery County jail. The judge also added another 60 days for violating his probation on his rape conviction. In November 1998, Playboy magazine published an interview that they did of Mike Tyson. In one of Tyson�s quotes he said:

�I�m just always ready to attack. I know how pervasive the idea of me is out there�I am very hateful muthafucka right now, a hateful individual. I�m really pissed off at the world�. I�m always trying to be cool, take care of my children, not kill anybody, not say anything anymore. I always do my best to be cool, I know I�m going to blow one day� I know I�m going to blow one day. But I�m going to make sure that when I blow, my kids are fine. There�s not much more of this shit I can take. I�m going to blow one day� (Playboy Magazine).

During Tyson�s jail sentence, Tyson had a tantrum after a guard hung up the phone that Tyson was talking on in the common area of the prison. Tyson exploded in anger and threw a television set. The rampage landed Tyson in isolation. The outburst had come just two days after the fighter�s daily dose of the antidepressant Zoloft was stopped� (Newsweek.com 1). On January 4, 1999: during a teleconference call with reporters, �Tyson, who had seemed relaxed and cordial, suddenly launched into an obscenity laced dialect aimed at a society he said rejects his credibility� (The Smoking Gun 7). On May 24, 1999, Tyson was released from the Maryland prison after serving less than a quarter of his one-year sentence.

Tyson seems to have a way of finding headlines. On October 24, 1999 Tyson fought against Orlin Norris. Tyson again created controversy after hitting Norris clearly after the sound of the bell in the first round. Richard Steele deducted 2-points from Tyson�s score card. Norris was unable to continue with the fight due to an ankle injury. Norris had twisted his knee when he went down from the late Tyson blow. The fight was ruled a no-contest. After the fight Tyson said that he �didn�t want to fight anymore� and that he was �tired of this crap� (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). The Nevada State Commission ruled later ruled that Tyson did not intentionally hit Norris after the bell. Tyson was again given a chance to keep his boxing license.

Mike Tyson lives an extraordinary life, from his transitional change from being a street criminal to being the youngest heavyweight champion. The only one that is capable of beating him is he himself. Mike Tyson�s life is best described by the late trainer/mentor/guardian Cus D�Amato�s quote: �no matter what anyone says, no matter the excuse or explanation, whatever a person does in the end is what he intended to do all along�